Tri-county transit celebrates one year anniversary of serving Jersey, Calhoun and Greene counties

Alex B. Heeb, aheeb@civitasmedia.com

Published 6:56 pm, Monday, April 17, 2017

JERSEYVILLE — Tri-County Transit, a transportation agency servicing Jersey, Calhoun and Greene counties, is celebrating its first year of operations.

In rural counties, transportation options for people without access to a vehicle are extremely limited, and according to Lacey Miller, who heads up Tri-County Transit, the program has filled an important need in the community.

“I’ve heard a lot of positive feedback,” Miller said. “A lot of people are very grateful for the service, biggest thing we hear.”

The service has its hub in Jerseyville, but will pick riders up at their door anywhere inside the three counties they serve. In their last quarter, Miller said, the program served 280 individuals, many of whom took multiple rides. The program operates 13 vehicles, and rotates 18 drivers.

While the program is operated through Illinois Valley Economic Development Corporation — which focuses on senior services, and operates several senior centers — the ride program is designed for people of all ages, Miller said.

“We take everybody and anybody that needs a ride,” Miller said.

A number of younger riders use the service to get to work or to Lewis and Clark Community College, Miller said. Rides for medical appointments are also popular.

The service gets much of its funding through state and federal grants, allowing for relatively low ridership fees. Inside the three county service area, a round-trip ride is $4, with $1 charged for each additional stop. Rides to Alton, Carlinville and Jacksonville are $10. Drivers will go as far as Springfield, with a $20 charge for that trip.

According to Miller, Tri-County Transit attempts to coordinate with other area transit operations to free up more drivers. Rather than taking riders to specific locations in Alton, for example, riders are encouraged to take Madison County Transit once in the city.

The program, which started off small, continues to grow, Miller said.

“We want to grow, we want this to be something that everybody knows about.” she said. “We want our vans to be full when we go places.”

Seeing people attain greater independence makes her job well worth it, she added. Just last week, she said, drivers gave a lift to a man who had no other transportation options. The man was able to buy groceries for himself for the first time in two years.

“The reason behind it is to promote more self sufficiency for people,” Miller said.